til the night I held you
by adamsmccord
Summary: Two best friends, a nosy roommate, and all the stars in the sky. (For the prompt "When Henry finally asked Elizabeth out on a date, she asked him what took him so long.")


_**AN: This happened because I was writing a different thing and this was working better so I wrote this instead. title from moonlight by ariana grande. I hope y'all enjoy this! leave me a comment/review if you do, I'd love to hear from y'all!**_

Elizabeth Adams closes the door behind her after saying goodnight to her study partner and walks into her apartment. Her roommate, Becky, watches her from the couch as she opens the refrigerator. "Who's the hottie?"

"Who, Henry? We were just studying for midterms next week, I always get more done when we study together," Elizabeth says, shrugging her shoulders.

"Henry, huh? He's hot," Becky says, raising her eyebrows at Elizabeth, who hums in acknowledgment.

"So you've said." Elizabeth closes the refrigerator and turns to look at Becky.

Becky's quiet for a minute, then says, "Well, aren't you gonna tell me about him?"

Elizabeth considers telling Becky everything, before saying, "He's a junior, he's a religion major, he's from Pittsburgh, and…I like him, but it's complicated."

"Why is it 'complicated'?"

"He just got out of a relationship, and I don't date much, and he's basically my best friend and I can't screw that up," Elizabeth says, biting her lip and looking at her shoes.

"I think you should just go for it, Liz. He's hot, you're hot, you like him, he'd be crazy to not like you because you're awesome and if he doesn't, it's his loss. Also, I thought I was your best friend, what gives?"

"I can have more than one best friend, Beck, that's how it works," Elizabeth says, rolling her eyes.

"But seriously, I don't even think he's into me, so it doesn't matter, and nothing's going to happen, at least, not right now, anyway. His girlfriend broke up with him last month, like, right after finals, so he's in a weird place anyway."

"Right after finals? Bitch."

"And before Christmas, too, so I'm pretty sure, from what he told me, that he spent his break moping around and avoiding his dad. Also, he's been acting weird since we came back from break, so I think he's still not completely over that."

They're studying at her place one Thursday night later in the semester when Becky comes home to find them sitting on the couch, textbooks open but abandoned on the coffee table, and a half-empty pizza box on the floor between them. Elizabeth looks up when she hears the door open and sees her roommate come in, earlier than she usually does on Thursday nights. She stands, gesturing toward Becky, who gives her a knowing look before she starts to speak. "Is this-"

Elizabeth interrupts her, seeing fit to make some introductions. "Right! Becky, this is Henry McCord; Henry, this is my roommate, Becky." They shake hands, Henry's eyes never leaving Elizabeth.

Becky's eyes go to Elizabeth, then to Henry, and back to Elizabeth again. "It's really great to finally meet you, Henry. Hey Liz, can I talk to you for a second?" Elizabeth feels her hand being pulled toward Becky's room.

"We were at the library but we needed a change of scenery, we can go somewhere else if it bothers you that he's here, I didn't know you'd-" Elizabeth starts before Becky cuts her off.

Becky closes the door and turns to look at Elizabeth. "I don't care about that, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Are you still denying that he's into you?"

"What...what are you talking about? We're friends."

"That might be true, but if the look I caught him giving you when I came in means anything at all, he also wants to kiss you and have beautiful, obnoxiously intelligent babies with you, and he's not that great at hiding it, either," Becky folds her arms across her chest and leans back against her bed frame.

"You think so?"

"I told you, he'd have to be blind, or stupid, to not be into you, and I'm pretty sure he isn't either of those. But again, judging by the look on his face, he seems to think you hung the stars in the sky, and that's not something you should ignore, especially if you're still super into him."

Elizabeth paces around the room as Becky talks, running her hands through her hair like she does when she's thinking hard or when she's anxious. Which category this falls under, neither of them are sure, maybe a little of both, but it really doesn't matter. She takes a breath.

"Okay, so what do I do about it?"

Becky laughs. "Honestly?" Elizabeth nods. "I think you go back out there and stick your tongue in his mouth and see what he does,"

"Becky!"

"What? It seems to be obvious to everyone, except you apparently, that he wants to do the same to you, so it can't hurt to try something!"

"He's my best friend, I don't want it to be weird on the chance that you're wrong," Elizabeth replies slowly, chewing on her lip nervously.

"I'm not wrong, and fine, if you want to talk about your feelings first, or whatever, that's your call, but I really think you should just kiss him. Now go, before he starts wondering if we're talking about him," she says, pushing Elizabeth toward the bedroom door.

She walks back out into the living room, closing Becky's door behind her. Henry looks up at her when he hears the door click shut, and she can see his face light up in a way she's never noticed before, and Becky's words come back to her.

 _Like you hung the stars in the sky._

 _Fuck_. Maybe Becky was right.

Elizabeth makes her decision.

She's tired of waiting.

She's moving toward him and he's saying something that she truly isn't paying attention to because none of it matters when she takes his face in her hands and pulls his mouth to hers.

 _Oh._

The kiss is soft at first, but when she runs her tongue along his lip he pulls away.

"What…"

"Oh my God, I'm sorry, I made this weird, I thought…" She trails off, pulling her hands in front of her face.

He's quiet for a moment too long and she's turning to leave the room when he grabs her hand and pulls her back to him. "I wasn't going to say I didn't like it," he says in a low voice, wrapping his arm around her back.

He puts a finger under her chin and tilts her head up so he can see her eyes. "I was kind of hoping to take you on a date or two before we did that, but that was…"

She giggles. "You're not so bad, yourself," she teases as he leans in again and she pushes up on her toes to meet him halfway.

Their second kiss is hungrier than the first, but somehow just as soft, and when he takes her bottom lip between his she actually feels her knees give out under her.

She's not sure how it happens, but they end up on the couch with his hands on her waist and her arms around his neck, and he's kissing her, and she never wants him to stop kissing her like this, just like this, forever.

They're taking a minute to catch their breaths when Henry breaks the silence. "No offense, but why did we wait so long to do this?"

Elizabeth hesitates. "I...don't know why, anymore, I didn't want to make it weird, but that was just because I was scared, because you're my best friend, and-"

Henry interrupts her rambling. "Wait, I'm your best friend?"

She laughs and smacks a hand against his chest. "Yes, loser, you're my best friend."

"Oh good, 'cause you're my best friend, too," he says, catching her hand and lacing their fingers together. He gives her an easy smile.

"Shut up and kiss me, dork," she says, swinging her leg back over his lap.

Time seems to melt away from them after that, and Elizabeth's never felt more alive or more safe than she does right now, wrapped in Henry's arms, his lips tugging hers.

At some point, he catches a glance at the clock on the wall. "Shit."

"What's wrong?"

"I told my roommate I'd get up and run with him in the morning, and it's getting late," he says, sounding disappointed.

Elizabeth pouts at the loss of contact when he stands to collect his long-forgotten textbooks from the coffee table. She watches him put them back in his backpack and lift the bag onto his back. Getting up from her spot on the couch, she walks him to the door and steps out with him, closing it behind her. They embrace in the hallway, her head tucked into his shoulder and his arms around her back. She pulls back first so she can see his face.

"You said something about taking me on a date, is that still on the table?"

"How's tomorrow night? Wear something nice, I'll pick you up here at 7:00?"

"Tomorrow night sounds perfect, I'll be here," she agrees, leaning back into him.

He chuckles, squeezing her tighter, and she rests her head against his broad chest, listening to his heartbeat. Neither of them knows how long they stand there like that, but they break apart when Elizabeth yawns.

"You should get some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow?" Henry says, kissing her forehead.

"Tomorrow." She smiles. "Goodnight, Henry."

"Goodnight, Elizabeth," he says, keeping a hold on her hand as he walks away. She's rooted to her spot in front of the door, and they break apart when he gets too far away to touch.

She watches him go until he rounds the corner of the hallway, then turns to go back to her apartment. She walks in to see Becky sitting on the kitchen counter with her hands folded like she's been waiting for her, and Elizabeth is pretty sure her face is going to split from all the smiling she's doing, but she doesn't care.

"I knew it! I knew he looked like a good kisser!"

"Becky!"

"Am I wrong? This is gonna be a great story to tell at y'all's wedding, I can't wait."

"Becky!"

"Anyway, you're welcome, and I'm happy for you. Just don't do anything freaky while I'm here, ok?"

"Becky!"

The third time, she gets the hint. "I'm going to bed, I have an early class in the morning."

"Good night, Becky," Elizabeth says, rolling her eyes. Becky closes her door, leaving Elizabeth alone in the living room. Elizabeth walks into the bathroom to wash her face and catches a glimpse of her swollen lips and mussed hair in the mirror and smiles to herself. _Damn, we need to do that again, as soon as possible_.

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.


End file.
